The Morning Dish – Friday, March 8th, 2002
by Andrew Flynn
Hoops Heaven
Well, yesterday was quite fun. With every tournament in full swing, how can you go wrong? All the news was on the court. We’ve got our Phil Kasiecki (a Boston Resident) covering the Pac-10 Tournament, and his dispatch appears over to the right.
In the Ivy League non-tournament tournament last night, Yale upended Princeton 76-60, ending the Tigers’ run. All Old Nassau had to do was win two nights ago, or at least last night, and they likely would have been dancing. Now we have the Penn-Yale game Saturday to determine the Ivy crown. The win gave Yale its first 20-win season since 1949, and potentially its first trip to the dance since 1962. Plus, no on other than Penn or Princeton has won the Ivy since Cornell in ’88.
With all the Championshp Week madness, we’ve changed our format below for the weekend.
Here’s What Happened, and What’s on Tap:
ACC: First-round action saw 8-seed Florida State down 9-seed Clemson 91-84. Tonight, the Seminoles will battle the Terps, with UNC-Duke, Georgia Tech-Wake, and the Cavs vs. the Wolfpack. Check out our ACC Tournament Preview, at right, for more information.
Atlantic 10: The two 1-seeds had to work for it. 4-seed UMass took Xavier to OT, eventually losing 65-59. But the surprise was 1-seed Temple losing to LaSalle 72-66. Dayton downed St. Joseph’s and Richmond tripped up the Bonnies. Tonight it’s Xavier-Dayton and LaSalle-Richmond.
Big East: BC’s bubble likely burst, as Pittsburgh skated past the Eagles 76-62. The Hoyas lost another OT game, this one to Miami, 84-76. Connecticut beat ‘Nova by two, and Notre Dame downed the Red Storm by twenty. Today’s action sees Pitt-Miami and UConn against the Irish.
Big Sky: A mild upset happened as the 5-seed Montana downed 4-seed Norhtern Arizona by 82-64, but Weber State was able to put away 6-seed Portland State by a similar 84-62 spread. Tonight, Montana faces off against Eastern Washington, and Weber State goes up against 1-seed Montana State.
Big Ten: Mild upsets prevailed, as Michigan managed a win over Northwestern, 72-51, while Iowa defeated Purdue 87-72. The only team to take care of business was Minnesota, who prevailed over 11-seed Penn State 84-60. Today’s best game may be the 4-5 game featuring Indiana against Michigan State. The Hawkeyes face the 1-seeded Badgers, Michigan faces Ohio State, which would be good on the gridiron, and Minnesota plays Illinois.
Big 12: No real upsets in Big 12 First Round action: Colorado downed the Huskers 67-60, Texas Tech took care of A&M by 9, K-State tripped Baylor by one, 74-73, and Missouri toppled the used-to-be’s Iowa State by 20. But that’s just prologue. Tonight it’s Colorado-Kansas, Texas Tech-Oklahoma State, K-State against the Sooners, and Mizzou against the Longhorns. Other than Kansas-Colorado, it should be a night of great hoops.
Big West: The Big West Semifinals are tonight, as Pacific faces 1-seed Utah State, and 2-seed UC-Irvine goes up against Santa Barbara.
C-USA: The only shocker was that 6-seed Houston, in what’s becoming the feel-good story of the tournament, upended 3-seed Memphis 80-74. Marquette downed the Pitino-led Louisville squad, the Bearcats lit up South Florida by 22, and Charlotte defeated Tulane by 9. Tonight, it’s Marquette-Houston and Cincinnati-Charlotte.
Mid-American: Central Michigan couldn’t pull another upset, losing to Toledo 62-54. All the other top seeds won as well (what fun is that?), as Kent State beat Marshall, Ball State downed Miami, Ohio, and Bowling Green defeated Akron in a two-point squeaker. Tonight’s Semifinals have Kent State-Toledo, and Ball State-Bowling Green.
MEAC: 4th-seeded South Carolina State edged past North Carolina A&T, 63-61, and Howard tamed Bethune Cookman by 19. Tonight features 1-seed Hampton against South Carolina State, and 2-seed Delaware State against Howard.
Mountain West: Now we’re talking! Two Overtimes! First, 1-seed Wyoming got quite a scare against 8-seed Air Force, before finally winning it OT, 69-67. 3-seed UNLV up-ended 6-seed New Mexico, but it took two overtimes to do it, resulting in an NBA-like 120-117 final for the Rebels. 2-seed Utah had a close call with Colorado State, winning by three, 69-66. Lastly, 5-seed San Diego State defeated the 4th-seeded BYU 62-51. Tonight has Wyoming-San Diego State, and Utah-UNLV late. Get some oxygen!
Pacific-10: No upsets. Next. No really what happened was Oregon beat Washington by 22, USC shocked Stanford 103-78 (it was the margin, not the win itself). Arizona downed cross-state rival Arizona State by 17, and Cal probably burst UCLA’s bubble, 67-61. Tonight has Oregon-USC (should be a great one), and Arizona-Cal, with Cal looking to avenge its second-worst loss ever just last week in Tucson.
Patriot League: Finally, some Finals! In the Patriot League Finals, the Final game will be played by 2-seed Holy Cross and 1-seed American. Finally.
SEC: The only real upset yesterday was 6-seed South Carolina edging past the star-cross’d Ole Miss 69-67. LSU downed Vandy by 7, the Vols beat Arkansas by 7, and the Gators downed Auburn by 7, no, wait, it was really 81-63. This afternoon has LSU-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama, Florida-Mississippi State, and South Carolina-Kentucky.
SWAC: This evening pits 4-seed Texas Southern against the 1-seeded Alcorn State, and the other semifinal has Alabama State against Alabama A&338;M.
WAC: What was up with the 4-seeds yesterday? 4th-seeded SMU lost to Nevada 72-66, plus Louisinana Tech lost to Fresno State 72-69. Tulsa handled Boise State 72-53, and Hawaii downed San Jose State 71-56. This evening features Hawaii-Nevada, and Fresno State-Tulsa.
